Weather

 Does anyone here

watch the weather
channel?

 When you see your

local forecast do
you really know
what you’re
seeing?
You Will!
 What types of reported weather do you see
on the weather channel?
Weather Predictions
 The farther into the
future you try to
predict the less
accurate you will
be.
 Weather is the
daily account of
temperature +
moisture.
Weather
 Most weather occurs in
troposphere
 Due to our tilt, variations in
insolation cause heat energy to
be unevenly distributed
 The movement of heat energy
results in changes in the
atmosphere that are the cause of
WEATHER
Much information is needed to interpret what
is happening with the atmosphere.

Need to condense this

information in a small space
 Station Model
Allows the data to be plotted in a condensed
and usable format
Location of the station on the map.

The name of the location or airport

abbreviation might be given nearby.
Temperature information in
degrees Fahrenheit.

Temp
Dew Point Temperature in
degrees Fahrenheit.

Temp

dew point
 Wind direction
A staff is rotated around the station.

Temp

dewpt

Remember, winds are identified as the direction

FROM which they come. This would be a west
northwest wind or about 290º.
 Wind Speed
Attached to the staff are symbols for speed.

Temp

dewpt
 The coding for the wind speed symbols
can be generalized as:

half staff about 5 knots

note, it is not on
the end of the full staff about 10 knots
wind direction
staff these are additive for the
total amounts
three full staffs=30 knots
 Pressure – weight of air

DIFFERENCES IN AIR PRESSURE ARE CAUSED PRIMARILY

BY UNEQUAL HEATING OF EARTH’S SURFACE

 Increase density, increase pressure

 Increase temperature, decrease pressure and

density

 Increase altitude, decrease pressure

 Increase water vapor content, decrease

pressure

 Measured by a barometer
 Isobars = lines of equal pressure
Barometric (Air) Pressure
 Pressure exerted
by airs weight
 Heavy Air – high
pressure
 Light Air – low
pressure
Barometer
 The instrument
used to measure
air pressure
 Measured in units
called millibars
(mb) or inches
ISOBARS ARE ISOLINES OF EQUAL PRESSURE
Air pressure and Temperature
 What direction
does warm air tend
to move?
 Thing of a hot air
balloon…….Why
does it go up.
Warm Air
 When the air warms up, it rises
because the density of the air is
decreasing.
 If the air rises it creates low pressure
because the air is not pushing down
on the earth.
Cold Air
 When gasses get colder, they begin
to condense, get smaller. Because of
this their densities go up and the air
begins to fall.
 Cold air causes high pressure because
the air is falling to the earth.
 Increase temperature – decrease pressure
PRESSURE

T
Pressure and Density
Decrease with
ALTITUDE
Air Pressure and Altitude
 The higher up you go, the less
amount of air is sitting on top of you,
meaning that there is less air
pressure.
Air movement
 What causes the
wind to blow?
 Wind is caused by
differences in
 Air temp
 Air Density
 Air Pressure
Wind from Temperature
 As Hot air rises, cooler air will “blow”
in to replace the air that is rising.
Wind and Pressure
 The wind will always blow from higher
pressure to lower pressure
 Why does it do this? There are more
air particles causing the higher
pressure, so the sir moves to where
there is more space.
Pressure Gradient
 Def: rate of pressure change bewteen
two locations
 When looking at a map with isobars.
The strongest winds are where the
lines are closest together because the
gradient
What weighs more????
Pressure and Moisture
 Which is heavier, dry air or moist
air????
 Air is mainly made up of nitrogen (N2)
which has a mass of 28g and oxygen
(O2) which has a mass of 32g
 Water (H2O) has a mass of 18g.
 Because water is lighter than air,
when the air has moisture in it, it has
less mass which causes less pressure.
Water vapor replaces other air molecules that are heavier
MOIST AIR WEIGHS LESS
WIND – Horizontal movement of air
parallel to earth’s surface due to
pressure differences

 Winds move from HIGH pressure to

LOW pressure but Coriolis Effect
kicks in and modifies direction

 Winds named for the direction from

which they come
 Wind vane – measures direction
 Anemometer – measures wind
speed
Wind speed is DIRECTLY related
to the pressure gradient

Closer the isobars

Greater the pressure gradient
Greater the wind speed
Air Pressure (pg 14 ESRT)
 High Pressure  Low Pressure
 Lower Temp.  High Temps.
 Low Moisture in the  High Moisture in Air
air  Higher Altitudes
 Lower Altitude
Current Barometric Pressure

Temp pressure

dewpt
Barometric Pressure is VERY important!

average barometric pressure at sea

level is 1013.25 mb.
current barometric pressure is
reported to the nearest TENTH

BUT, they don’t want to waste

space
average barometric pressure at sea
level is 1013.25 mb.

barometric pressure varies around

this value
+ about 30 = 1043
somewhat higher

1013.3
somewhat lower
- about 30 = 983
average barometric pressure at sea
level is 1013.25 mb.
barometric pressure varies around
this value
they do not PRINT the beginning
number or numbers
----
1013.3 13.3
x 133

they, also, do not PRINT the

decimal point, but report to the
nearest TENTH
 From the three numbers, you must
INTERPRET whether the preceding
value is
10
or
9
Which would make the value
most realistic?
 add the decimal point
and then consider which, a 10 or a 9
places the value NEAREST to the
average pressure of
1013.25 mb.
What is the pressure? (1013.3)

084 08.4 1008.4

962 96.2 996.2

281 28.1 1028.1

875 87.5 987.5

322 32.2 1032.2

 Not only is the pressure itself
important, but so is the way the
pressure has been changing.

So, more information may be given

and must be coded.
 How has the barometer been
changing?

Temp pressure
trend

dewpt

+ it is higher now than in the past

- it is lower now than in the past
 How much the pressure has changed

Temp pressure
trend change
dewpt

the amount of change in the past

three hours
again, reported in TENTHS without
What has the pressure been doing?
Shown diagrammatically

Temp pressure
trend change shown

Dew point
 Total amount of cloud

Temp pressure
trend changeshow
dewpt n

graphic depiction of percentage of

the sky covered by clouds
 about 75%
no clouds

about 25% completely

overcast
about 50%
 What is the present weather?

Temp pressure
trend changeshow
dewpt n
The current weather is very
important.
A detailed set of symbols provides
weather descriptions.
Samples of present weather symbols.

fog rain

haze
* snow
slight
thunderst
,
rain
orm showers
drizzle
. ice or snow
pellets
lightni cloud
ng development
not observed
 The visibility is especially
important for pilots.

Temp pressure
visibil trend changeshow
ity dewpt n

Visibility is given in miles and

fractions
The past weather uses symbols.

Temp pressure
visibil trend changeshow
ity dewpt PAST n

,
*
 The amount of precipitation

Temp pressure
visibil trend changeshow
ity dewpt PAST pptn
amoun
t
Amount of precipitation is plotted in
inches to the nearest hundredth of
an inch.
Land/Sea Breeze
 Because of the specific heat of water, we
find that there are typical breezes during
the day.
 Land Breeze occurs during the day when it
is warmer on land then it is on the sea, so
the wind blows from the sea to land
 Sea Breeze occurs at night when the sea is
warmer then the land, causing the breeze
to go from land to see
 Factors Affecting Rates of
Evaporation
 Increase Temperature – increase evaporation

 Increase Surface Area (the more spread out

the water) – increase evaporation

 Increase wind speed – increase evaporation

 Increase saturation of the air with water vapor

– decrease evaporation
How does moisture get into the
atmosphere?
Evaporation - liquid water changes state
into water vapor
Requires input of energy from sun –
Heat energy is transferred from the
atmosphere to the water vapor
The water vapor absorbs energy - 540
calories. This added heat energy is
being converted to a kind of potential
energy – stored energy
How does moisture get
returned to earth?
 Condensation of water vapor– gas
to liquid
 Clouds and precipitation
 Heat energy transferred from the
water vapor to the atmosphere
 Releases energy gained from
evaporation – 540 calories
RELATIVE HUMIDITY – given in %
 Does not tell you the amount of
water vapor in the air – DOES
TELL YOU HOW CLOSE IT IS TO
BEING SATURATED

 SATURATION – filled to capacity

with water vapor – the RH is
100%

 Relative Humidity DECREASES as

Temperature INCREASES
Dew Point Temperature
 The temperature that the air is saturated –
filled with water vapor

 Relative Humidity is 100%

 Air Temperature drops below dew point –

CONDENSATION begins

 Dew Point Temperature is a measure of how

much water vapor in the air

Dew Point Temperature will rise as water

vapor content of the air increases
Dew Point Temp
 Temperature at which condensation
occurs (water vapor turns to liquid)
 When the dew point temperature =
air temperature, this means that the
air is saturated and it will rain.
 The dew point will always be less
than or equal (<) to the temperature
outside.
Relative Humidity
 This is a measure of how much
moisture is in the air.
 Warm air can hold more water vapor
 When the air is saturated, it is full.
We call this 100% relative humidity.
Relative Humidity
 As dew point and air temperature get
closer together, the relative humidity
increases.
DPT & Relative Humidity
Charts

Handy Dandy Earth Science

Reference Tables Page 12
Measuring Humidity
 People used to use a sling
psychrometer to measure humidity
 It worked by measuring how much
water evaporated of the device when
it was swung around in circles
The “Dry Bulb”
 Don’t let it fool
you. It is just a
thermometer.
20°C
 It measures the air
temperature.
 Duh!
The “Wet Bulb”
 Has a little wet
booty tied to the
bottom.
 Gets cool when
12°C
water
evaporates.

Wet Booty
A Dry Day…
 A lot of moisture
will evaporate.
 The wet bulb will 20°C 20°C
14°C
be a lot cooler
8°C
than the dry
bulb.

Difference between wet bulb

& dry bulb is 12 °C.
A Humid Day…
 A little bit of
moisture will
evaporate. 20°C
 The wet bulb will
14°C
not be much
cooler than the
dry bulb.

Difference between wet bulb

& dry bulb is 6 °C.
Page 12 of your Handy Dandy
Earth Science Reference
Tables
 Warning #1: Be sure to READ the correct
chart: DPT or RH
 Warning #2: Dew Point Temperature IS
NOT “Difference between wet bulb and dry
bulb”.
 Warning #3: The wet bulb temp IS NOT the
DPT.
Dry-bulb temperature is your air temperature.

20 °C
Subtract (the difference) between the dry bulb and wet bulb
 Put it all together

20°C
8°C

20-8=12

Relative Humidity = 11%

Which list correctly matches each instrument with
the weather variable it measures?
2. wind vane – wind speed
thermometer – temperature
precipitation gauge – relative humidity
3. Wind vane – wind direction
thermometer – dew point
psychrometer – air pressure
4. Barometer – air pressure
anemometer – cloud cover
precipitation gauge – probability of precipitation
5. Barometer – air pressure
anemometer – wind speed
psychrometer – relative humidity